Samsung Galaxy S5 announced

Samsung has announced its latest flagship Android phone the Samsung Galaxy S5, which as well as packing in much of the latest technology, such as a finger-print reader, is dust and water proof too.

Following in the footsteps of Sony's well received Z1 handset (and it's just announced followup the Z2), the new Galaxy S5 is rated as IP67 water and dust proof, which equates to full dust protection and protection from immersion in up to 1m of water for up to 30mins. We're yet to see exactly how this protection works, given the back of the phone is removable and has a hole for the speaker, but we'll find out soon enough.

The new handset will also feature a fingerprint reader incorporated into the home button on the front, just like the iPhone 5S. Joining this sensor is an in-built heart-rate monitor on the back, which sits alongside the rear camera's LED flash.

The core specs of the phone are as would be expected of Samsung's latest handset with a 5.1in Full HD AMOLED display, a 2.5GHz Quad Core processor, a 16MP rear camera (2MP front), 2GB of RAM, up to 32GB of internal memory and a microSD card supporting up to 128GB of extra storage.

One standout is the inclusion of 4K video recording, and Samsung makes some bold claims about the stills camera, citing its 0.3sec autofocus speed as being the world's fastest.

What will perhaps be a disappointment to many is that Samsung largely hasn't changed the physical design. There had been rumours the new handset would have a more premium finish to more directly rival the iPhone 5S. Such a premium version may still be on the cards for the future though.

The design, then, is a tweak to the Galaxy S4, with a full glass front broken up by the earpiece, a central physical home button and two touch buttons. This means the company has again steered clear of going with the Google-recommended control scheme of having one physical button to unlock the screen and then just on-screen controls.

Around the sides the phone uses a chromed plastic while the back retains a plastic removable cover, though this time it has a dimpled pattern. This will be available at launch in a variety of colours: Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and Copper Gold.

Introducing the handset, Simon Stanford, Vice President of IT & Mobile division, Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland said, “We’ve decided to go back to basics with the Galaxy S5 and focus on the features and things that matter the most to our customers – namely the camera, ability to view and download data and content quickly and their health and wellbeing.”

Given the list of features for this phone, and that it is even larger than its predecessor some might argue the S5 is anything but 'back to basics'. In comparison the upcoming HTC One 2 is expected to be a more modest refinement of the HTC One while the just-announced Sony Z2 is a very minor upgrade over the Z1.

Is it? I mean, true enough I've never owned one, but do we really actually care about having a 4k on our phones? 2560x1440 seems pretty impressive to me, and when we get to the point where we have a 5" screen with higher resolution than (most of our) 22-26" monitors, do we really need more, when it's going to chomp through our already terrible battery life?

I'd happily take a phone with a 2560 screen I can actually use for 12 hours over a 4k screen'd phone I can only use for 8.

Never said it was needed, I was being kinda ironic. All the speculation I read on the run up was pointing to a 4K screen, or a 2560*1440. I have a Note3 which has an amazing 1080p screen which still blows my mind at how good a portable device can look. I really don't see a need to go past this. Good to see samsung not getting carried away, unlike the pre-launch rumors.

Is it? I mean, true enough I've never owned one, but do we really actually care about having a 4k on our phones? 2560x1440 seems pretty impressive to me, and when we get to the point where we have a 5" screen with higher resolution than (most of our) 22-26" monitors, do we really need more, when it's going to chomp through our already terrible battery life?

I'd happily take a phone with a 2560 screen I can actually use for 12 hours over a 4k screen'd phone I can only use for 8.

The S3 can certainly manage 12 hours of screen on constant use (I've done it several times). So long as the battery is incrementally improved each gen I see no reason that can't be maintained while still increasing CPU capability and screen resolution. There are, of course, limits.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KovoetHappy with the S4 for now

Happy with the S3 for now, but with S5's coming out I might be able to get a cheap wee upgrade to the S4, which's nice.

6 = No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact (dust tight)
7 = Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion).

5 = Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact (dust proof)
8 = The equipment is suitable for continuous immersion in water under conditions which shall be specified by the manufacturer. Normally, this will mean that the equipment is hermetically sealed. However, with certain types of equipment, it can mean that water can enter but only in such a manner that it produces no harmful effects.

I'm somewhat curious that Sony didn't (or was unable to?) make their phone dust proof given it has greater water resistance.

With regards to screen resolution, I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone on here that anything over 300ppi is utterly, indisputably pointless. Even if you have the most incredible close vision, your retinas are biologically incapable of differentiating between a 720p and 1080p resolution on a 5" display.

Posted from my HTC One with about 200 more pixels per inch than i could ever possibly see

This. Really excited for The New HTC One / M8. The dual cameras for aftershot refocusing looks like a brilliant feature - as long as it's true. No-one seems to be tackling HTC speaker wise either which is surprising.

Originally Posted by ShirtyWith regards to screen resolution, I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone on here that anything over 300ppi is utterly, indisputably pointless. Even if you have the most incredible close vision, your retinas are biologically incapable of differentiating between a 720p and 1080p resolution on a 5" display

Nope. Even ignoring measures of acuity other than line-differentiation (e.g. Hyperacuity), the AMOLED panels Sansung use only show their rated DPI in the green channel. Red and Blue are each at half that, due to Pentile's RGBG layout (and Pentile defining two subpixels per pixel rather than three).

Originally Posted by ShirtyWith regards to screen resolution, I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone on here that anything over 300ppi is utterly, indisputably pointless. Even if you have the most incredible close vision, your retinas are biologically incapable of differentiating between a 720p and 1080p resolution on a 5" display

Nope. Even ignoring measures of acuity other than line-differentiation (e.g. Hyperacuity), the AMOLED panels Sansung use only show their rated DPI in the green channel. Red and Blue are each at half that, due to Pentile's RGBG layout (and Pentile defining two subpixels per pixel rather than three).

I will admit I am not as up on smartphones as I used to be, but my impression was that at the current resolutions and PPI, pentile was indistinguishable from non-pentile. Everything you said is correct, of course, but does not matter anymore.

Would really be good if they changed the design I find the HTC One's design more interesting, im not really interested at 4k for a phone, what would that really benefit? Pixels would only matter on larger devices in my opinion

This is only 0.5% more voluminious than an S3, which personally I find to be a fine size. I can imagine most people with hands which are smaller than "above average" wouldn't want one because I've got fairly large hands and if it were much larger it wouldn't fit comfortably, but aside from small handed people, I think the size is great. Any smaller and watching videos and just generally browsing would be pretty rubbish imo. I don't get how people are happy with Iphone screens.

Originally Posted by specofdust I don't get how people are happy with Iphone screens.

I don't understand this either, as the screen is far too small for my liking. I'm very happy with the size of my S3.

I also don't understand the fuss about it being all plastic. I always use protective cases on my phones so being plastic or metal makes no difference to me. In fact the all metal bodies are just likely to feel heavier.

My phones got a 4.7" screen and it is fine. I'm guessing I wouldn't mind going up to around 5" anything more and it would start getting uncomfortable in my pocket - I suspect. I'd love to try the Note 3 out to see what its like to carry but suspect it's size would annoy me.

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